Pennsylvania
Special Education Hearing Officer
DECISION
Child’s Name: J.W.
Date of Birth: [redacted]
ODR No. 16587-15-16-AS
CLOSED HEARING
Parties to the Hearing: Parent[s]
Pocono Mountain School District 135 Pocono Mountain School Road Swiftwater, PA 18370
Representative:
Angela Uliana-Murphy, Esquire
106 North Franklin Street, Suite No. 2 P.O. Box 97
Pen Argyl, PA 18072
Timothy E. Gilsbach, Esquire
King, Spry, Herman, Freund & Faul, LLC One West Broad Street, Suite 700 Bethlehem, PA 18018
Dates of Hearing: October 28, 2015; November 2, 2015
Record Closed: November 23, 2015
Date of Decision: December 14, 2015
Hearing Officer: William F. Culleton, Jr., Esquire, CHO
INTRODUCTION AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
The child named in this matter (Student)1 is a resident of the district named in this matter (District), and is enrolled in a District junior high school. (NT 7-8.) Student is identified under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. §1401 et seq. (IDEA), as a child with the disabilities of other health impairment and specific learning disability. (NT 7-8.) Student’s parents (Parents)2 filed this due process request, asserting that the District failed to provide Student with a free appropriate public education (FAPE) when Student was in sixth and seventh grades, as required by the IDEA. Parents request an order that the District provide Student with compensatory education on account of such asserted failure to provide a FAPE. The District states that it provided a FAPE to Student during the relevant period of time.
The hearing was completed in two sessions. I have determined the credibility of all witnesses and I have considered and weighed all of the evidence of record. I conclude that the District failed to provide Student with a FAPE, and I order it to provide Student with compensatory education accordingly.3
ISSUES
- During the relevant period from the first day of school in the 2013-2014 school year until the last day of school in the 2014-2015 school year, did the District offer to and provide Student with a FAPE?
- During the summer of 2015, did the District offer to and provide Student with appropriate extended school year (ESY) services?
- Should the hearing officer order the District to provide Student with compensatory education for or on account of any failure to provide a FAPE during all or any part of the relevant period or the summer of 2015?